


A Version of Truth

by kazlynh



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazlynh/pseuds/kazlynh
Summary: For Whumptober2020 - No 23: WHAT'S A WHUMPEE GOTTA DO TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE - ExhaustionStory set post-ESB
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	A Version of Truth

Bare chested, wearing only loose-fitting pants, Luke curled on the floor, exhausted, shivering in the cool air. The floor grate leached away his body heat, but it was warmer than the metal shelf he had woken on. His muscles burned. The breath rasped in his lungs.

He had no idea how long he had been here. He had no idea what had happened to the others. He vaguely remembered the sound of explosions. He remembered the silence in the shuttle, broken only by the regular sound of his father’s breathing. He remembered the sharp pain of the hypodermic biting into his arm before whatever they had injected him with had dragged him down into oblivion.

And now he was here. Alone. Hurting. Trapped in cold darkness. He reached out, again, trying to sense his father through the Force… but there was nothing.

_You were our only hope…_

_Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor…_

Grief, fear and guilt reared up. Luke sucked in a breath, turning onto his back, using the pain the movement caused to push down the emotions. Fear was the Dark Side. He had to stay calm. He had to stay focussed. He tried to still his mind, drawing on a meditation exercise. Cold and exhaustion dragged at him, making it difficult to stay focussed. He tried to concentrate on his rasped breathing. It caught in his chest and he coughed it out, losing concentration.

Breathing was easier when he lay on his side. He heaved himself over. The movement sent a burning wave of pain through him, and he groaned softly. As he breathed in, it caught in his chest, again, sending him into a spasm of coughing that leeched his strength.

Abandoning any attempt at meditation, he drew on his military training, instead. Isolation was a prisoner’s biggest enemy. It left too much time to think, too much time to worry. He needed to stay busy, occupy his mind.

Moisture vaporators…

How to replace the capillary tubing of a moisture vaporator without splitting the condenser coil. Step one: remove both access panels. Step Two…

Light suddenly filled the cell, so bright it hurt. Luke swore, covering his eyes but lying still. Conserve your energy, Derlin had told them. Don’t fight. If you fight, you lose any control you have of the situation.

Booted feet rasped on the floor grating. Strong hands lifted him. He squinted into the brightness, making out two red-cloaked guards standing at the door of the cell. He leant into the strength of the two guards who held him, letting them walk him towards the door and into the corridor. Every movement burned through his muscles. Warm air hit his bare skin and he almost moaned in relief, feeling it seep into his body.

They didn’t take him far. They moved him to the end of the corridor, into another cell, sitting him down on a chair in the middle of the room, his back to the door. Then they left.

Luke frowned, but didn’t turn around. They hadn’t secured him to the chair. They hadn’t bound his wrists. He wasn’t naïve enough to allow himself to hope that they had made a mistake. This was a tactical move, to reinforce the futility of any thoughts of escape.

Second stretched into minutes.

Moisture vaporators…

How to replace the capillary tubing of a moisture vaporator without splitting the condenser coil. Step one: remove both access panels. Step two: isolate the compressor from the power source. Step three: close the air filter. Step four: isolate the fan from the power source. Step five: isolate the…

Vader’s approaching presence broke his concentration. Apprehension and anticipation coiled in his chest. He pushed them down, struggling for calm.

He didn’t turn when the door opened. Vader moved down into the cell, walking around to stand in front of him. He lifted his head, looking up into the obsidian mask.

Vader regarded his son for a long moment. Luke was exhausted and hurting, but there was still a spark of defiance in his eyes. Behind the mask, Vader smiled, pride surging.

“When I learned of your mother’s death,” he began, finally, “I believed I had lost you both.”

He sensed, and saw, Luke react. The brief surge of surprise was quickly hidden, but it was there. “Obi-Wan told you I was unaware of your mother’s pregnancy.” It was a statement, not a question, but Luke’s silence confirmed it.

“Obi-Wan lied to you. He told you that your father was dead. He told you that I knew nothing of a child.”

Luke closed his eyes, unable to find any defence for the Jedi knight. Nothing Vader had just said was wrong. Ben had indeed told him that his father had been betrayed and murdered. Then he had defended the lie. _What I have told you was true… from a certain point of view…_

Had Ben believed that another lie, Vader knowing nothing about his mother being pregnant, was also justifiable because it might be _true from a certain point of view_?

Vader had produced a holopad and activated it, holding it out to his son. “This is your mother…”

Taken aback by the barely concealed emotion in Vader’s voice, and the almost-controlled wash of sadness through the Force, Luke looked at the image for a long moment, before reaching out to take the pad. She was beautiful, regal. He could see Leia in her.

“She was the Senator for Naboo,” Vader offered, unable to speak her name aloud. “She had planned to return there, when the time came to have our child. Neither of us knew she was carrying twins.”

He paused for a long moment, sensing Luke’s conflicting emotions, giving his son time to process the information. Then, finally, he began, “Obi-Wan lied to you, as the Jedi lied to me and to themselves. They proclaimed that they were selfless, that they cared only about others. And yet they tried to overthrow the Emperor and the Senate, and seize power for themselves.”

He paused again: old, long-suppressed memories surfacing. “When I sided with the Senate, when I stood against the Jedi, they sought me out to kill me. Obi-Wan used your mother. Knowing that she was pregnant, he still used her to get to me. Then, he left me for dead… taking your Mother with him.”

Luke struggled under the weight of Vader’s words, trying desperately to equate everything he had just heard with what he had been told by Yoda and Ben. But Ben’s words on Dagobah reared up, again. … _many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view_ …

He shook his head, trying, “No… You’re wrong! Ben… Ben said you were seduced by the Dark Side. He wanted to bring you back to the good…”

“Obi-Wan twisted the truth,” Vader countered. “He twisted the truth with your mother, too: using her to get to me. When he found me, we fought. He cut me down. He took my arm and my legs… and then left me to burn on a lava field! I am alive only because the Emperor saved me.”

Horrified, Luke gaped at him. Unable to believe it, terrified that it might be the truth, Luke shook his head. “No…”

“How else could Obi-Wan have had my lightsaber to give to you?”

Dread, revulsion and betrayal slammed through Luke. The surge of emotion hit Vader like a wall, pushing him back a step. The appalled breath that Luke dragged in, caught in his chest, sending him into a spasm of coughing that thrust burning pain through his muscles.

Vader moved past him. “You are not yet recovered,” he cautioned. “You need rest.” The door opened at his approach, and he walked up the steps into the corridor. “Take him back to his cell!” he ordered. Then he turned away, leaving his son to the guards.


End file.
